But Almodóvar has gone to the opera accompanied by some of his girls. The director from La Mancha attended this afternoon the premiere of The Human Voice, The Wait and the monologue Silencio at the Teatro Real in Madrid accompanied by the British performer Tilda Swinton and some of his usual actresses such as Loles León and Bibiana Fernández.
Almodóvar has thus supported another of his girls, Rossy de Palma, who this afternoon premiered the theatrical monologue Silencio, created together with the director Christof Loy, with texts by Oscar Wilde, Bertolt Brecht and the actress herself. De Palma’s performance serves to link two operas for soprano and orchestra, La voix humaine (The Human Voice) by Francis Poulenc with a libretto by Jean Cocteau (1889-1963), and Erwartung (The Waiting), by Arnold Schönberg.
In addition to supporting De Palma, Almodóvar and Swinton wanted to pay tribute to The Human Voice, which served as the script for a short film that they both shot together in English. Since its premiere at the Comédie Française in 1930, The Human Voice has been performed by great actresses, both in theater and cinema, including Roberto Rossellini (with Ana Magnani), Ted Kotcheff (with Ingrid Bergman) and Carlo Ponti (with Sofia Loren).
Now, Real’s new version of The Human Voice stars Ermonela Jaho and The Wait, by Malin Byström. With a link between both works, the musical direction is carried out by Jérémie Rhorer, who once again directs the Royal Theater Orchestra.
Almost 50 years intervene between the composition of The Waiting (1909) and The Human Voice (1958), by Poulenc (1899-1963), two works starring women deranged by the searing pain of a separation, heartbreak, jealousy, the fear of loneliness and silence.
The collaboration between Almodóvar and Swinton did not end with the short film The Human Voice. The actress has once again placed herself at the director’s command along with Julianne Moore, who was unable to attend tonight’s premiere, in The Room Next Door, Pedro Almodóvar’s first feature film in English. Filming has just started between Madrid and New York. The film will also feature the participation of actor John Turturro.
The story is about a very imperfect mother and a spiteful daughter separated by a great misunderstanding. Between them, another woman, Ingrid (Julianne Moore), a friend of her mother, is the repository of both of their pain and bitterness. Martha, the mother (Tilda Swinton), is a war reporter and Ingrid is an autofiction novelist.
